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Study: The Brazilian ATM, payments market

March 5, 2014

Brazil has long been recognized as a leader among developing markets. As the nation's economy has grown and matured, so have its ATM and payments markets — now profiled in a new research report from Mercator Advisory Group, "The Brazilian Payments Market: Ready for the Limelight."

Openness to competition (from both domestic and international players) and a relatively well-developed financial infrastructure make Brazil arguably the most attractive developing payments market in the world, Mercator finds — especially given the lesser market development of India and Russia, and the difficulties of operating in China. 

The Mercator report offers context for the Brazilian payments industry with historical and short-term forecasts in areas such as payment card growth and ATM deployment and transaction growth. It also identifies leading domestic and international players operating in the Brazilian payments market and examines recent actions by national regulators.

"Soon the world's attention will turn to Brazil as the country prepares to host two of the world's premier athletic events — the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the ... Olympic Summer Games in August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro," said Tristan Hugo-Webb, associate director of the international advisory service at Mercator Advisory Group and author of the report. "While the press and public focus on these events, the maturity of the Brazilian payments system will go largely unnoticed except by the payments industry. The Brazilian payments market has emerged as a leading player not only in the Latin American region but around the world."

Highlights of the report include:

• an overview of payment segments in Brazil (e.g., payment cards and ATMs) with historical data and estimates;
• an examination of the potential market for mobile payments and well as e-commerce; and 
• a review of leading domestic and foreign players in payment industry segments, and their market share.

One of eight exhibits in the 25-page report: